The Gaoshaji site is situated at Gaotangling town in Wangcheng county, Hunan province, lying on a long narrow sandbar on the western bank of the lower Xiangjiang River, at the river mouth where the Weishui flows into the Xiangjiang, and occupies an area of 180, 000 sq m. It was excavated twice in 1996 and 1999, which acquired very important archaeological data, including tombs,ash-pits, kiln-sites and numerous bronzes, pottery objects and stone artifacts. The tombs with bronzes are dated to the time from the later early to the earlier middle stage of Western Zhou; those with pottery and other remains can be divided into two phases: the first phase belongs principally to the early Western Zhou, maybe as early as the turn between the Shang and Zhou, while the second phase to the mid Western Zhou. Containing elements of two cultures,the unearthed objects show the character of a mixed culture with the external elements as the main body. The coexistence of Shang and Zhou bronzes with a pottery culture provides an important clue for solving the puzzle of Hunan bronzes in Shang and Zhou times.
